Catherine Wang, Two Horses, 2023, oil on canvas, 48 x 60 in, California Institute of the Arts. Alpay Scholarship Award, 1st Place.
NOW TRENDING:
9th Annual Alpay Scholarship Exhibition
June 7 – July 5, 2025
Current art and media students from Southern California colleges and universities were invited to submit engaging new work to be showcased in Palos Verdes Art Center’s 9th Annual Alpay Scholarship Exhibition, Now Trending. This year’s scholarship award recipients are:
1st Place: Catherine Wang, California Institute of the Arts. $5,000
2nd Place: Shruti Walker, Otis College of Art and Design. $3,000
3rd Place: Sheng Lor, University of California, Los Angeles. $2,000
All media were considered, including but not limited to: Painting, Drawing, Printing, Sculpture, Glass, Ceramics, Fiber Art, Photography, Video, Film, VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), Installation Art, Performance Art, and Mixed Media.
JUROR: Fafnir Adamites
Fafnir Adamites (they/them) holds an MFA degree from the Fiber and Material Studies Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA in Photography and Women’s Studies from UMass Amherst. Fafnir is an Assistant Professor and Head of the Fiber Area at California State University, Long Beach and has taught workshops and intensives at Arrowmont School of Art and Craft, Snow Farm: The New England Craft Program and Women’s Studio Workshop.
Fafnir’s work has been shown nationally, including the recent group exhibition 9 x 9: Contemporary Quilts & Containers at Palos Verdes Art Center. They have received several grants to support their exhibitions and studio practice, and they have been awarded residencies at MASS MoCA, Women’s Studio Workshop and Vermont Studio Center. Fafnir also curates contemporary fiber work such as the exhibit Displacing Structures at Angels Gate Cultural Center Art Gallery in Spring 2024 and juries exhibits such as the Morgan Conservatory’s 12th annual juried exhibition New Terrain Spring 2024.
Fafnir speaks about their studio practice frequently and has been selected to speak at 2 recent events: The Textile Society of America’s Symposium “Shifts and Strands: Rethinking the Possibilities and Potentials of Textiles” and “Thinking Through Textiles: Future Pedagogies” at UCLA’s Broad Art Center.
Fafnir is a Board Member and Co-Chair of the Surface Design Association and a member of the Textile Society of America and North American Hand Papermakers.
Download Price list HERE.
Astrid Acosta, Red Car, 2023
Video. Duration: 3:00 min
California Institute of the Arts
Annika Dean, My Paranoia and Me, 2024,
Video. Duration: 4:18 min
University of Southern California
Samantha Randell, Lover’s Spit, 2024
Video. Duration: 4:00 min
California State University, Long Beach
Cheyenne Read, The Light in My Eyes is Nothing, 2024
Video. Duration: 5:51 min
California Institute of the Arts
JUROR STATEMENT
As the juror of Now Trending: 9th Annual Alpay Scholarship Exhibition, it was a gift to be able to pour through the applications of these art and media students from Southern California colleges and universities. They submitted work that shows depth of thought and artistic exploration. It was a challenge to select only the artists that you see here. There were many others that also showed technical expertise, vision and promise.
The themes amongst the artists exhibited here are their common acts of close looking, personal examination and their critical eye. These artists are bravely exploring the, at times, complicated terrain of identity and sense of place and belonging. They are challenging the traditions of their chosen medium to discover their authentic artistic voices. The material exploration seen in these galleries shows the effort to develop a visual language that doesn’t rely solely on figuration or narrative storytelling. These artists are expanding what artmaking is through these vital acts of creation.
We have so much to learn from these emerging artists. And we have a duty to take note and follow their lead. To look critically at the world and at ourselves is a valuable practice for everyone, not just artists. To embrace critical thinking is to look closely, to study, to uncover, and ultimately to learn.
Congratulations to all the students selected to exhibit in this year’s Now Trending. I can’t wait to see where your work takes you.
Fafnir Adamites, Juror
This exhibition is made possible, in part, by generous support from–
